Running and sweating along my favorite path, the National Mall. I don’t always get the opportunity to stop and grab a cold one — not within eyeshot of the US Capitol, that is — the Capitol Police or Park Police would be on top of you in a milisecond or less.
But this cold one was a frosty Guinness, and today, was like no other day in balmy July on the throes of a long week and the tail end of one of my most favorite Folk Life Festivals thus far (Last year was Silk Roads and the year before featured arts and craft from Latin America).
Noticing that the Northern Island display had an actual outdoor bar, and parched and dehydrated after an arduous run of 3 miles on a warm, summer day, it was hard to resist the cool down.
The Northern Ireland program brought to DC music, artists, storytellers, craftspeople, cooks, etc. — one I’ve tremendously enjoyed all week.
So with Guinness in hand, this is where I met Jamie – nice girl who had an avid interest in anything Irish. From there, the networking expanded and I was introduced to Mark Wilson, a classy musician with an awesome set of drums who could twirl the drumsticks like a cheerleader’s baton but still not miss a beat. There were other musicians, and bagpipers, but Mark was one heck of a guy who could put on quite a show. Mark introduced me to Tommy Sands — a great Irish-ballad singer whose Bariton Irish Gaelic voice could calm even my most savage run. I could listen to him endlessly (Lagan Stage), to the point where I was saddened when he ended the show. I gave Tommy one of my signature coins and he presented me with one of his CDs that had not yet been released — I felt royally honored and overjoyed by such a heartfelt gesture from such a distinguished gentleman.
After the networking and after I decided to go for another loop around the Capitol, we decided to meet later in the evening at the Roslyn Hyatt for the Finish Festival.
The Festival was a tremendous Blast! It was Sunday and had to work the next day, but it was all well worth it.
And guess who I invited to the Pentagon the next day: Jamie and Mark for a personalized tour before Mark boarded the flight back to Northern Ireland later that afternoon.
What was supposed to be a short run and a brief opportunity to listen to music at the Smithsonian Folklife Fest, turned out to be something frosty fermented, and remarkably memorable–an experience that gave me lasting life-long friends, half a world away.